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Commentary on Matthew 13:31-35

Today we have two short parables which reflect both the experience of the early Church and also highlight features of the Kingdom. Considering when they were written, they exude an extraordinary level of trust and confidence in God’s power, a trust which was not disappointed although the results were not seen for generations.

The first is the parable of the mustard seed. The mustard seed is not actually the smallest seed known today, but it was the smallest seed used by Palestinian farmers and gardeners. Nor did it, strictly speaking, produce the largest of trees but, under favourable conditions, it could reach some 10 feet (or 3 metres) in height, big enough to provide shelter for birds.

The early Church, scattered in tiny communities, largely cut off from each other, all over the Mediterranean area must have felt very small, very vulnerable. The idea that in time it would become the central cultural influence all over Europe, Roman and barbarian, must have been beyond the wildest dreams of those early Christians. But that tiny seed did become a large tree providing shelter and comfort to millions and, from the Mediterranean, spread to every corner of the world.

The second parable about yeast in the dough is similar, but with a different nuance. In the Bible, yeast is usually a symbol of that which is evil and corrupt. Jesus warned his disciples about the yeast of the Pharisees (Mark 8:15). Similarly, at the Passover, the Jews eat unleavened bread, that is, bread free from leaven or yeast. In this parable, however, yeast is presented as a symbol of growth.

A tiny amount of yeast put into a large batch of dough produces striking results. (The 3 measures would produce enough to feed 100 people!) A dough batch, over a matter of hours, can swell to twice its original size as the process of fermentation takes place. The effects of the yeast, quite invisible, reach to every corner. Again, when this was written, that was not yet the case. The Church had made very little impact on its surrounding societies. But over the years, its influence grew until Christianity became the prevailing faith and cultural influence of the whole of Europe and then continued to spread out to other parts of the world.

This second parable points to a very important element in the life and work of the Church. It only exerts its influence when it is totally immersed in the society it wishes to reach and influence. And it can do this while still being only a small part of the whole. While never identifying itself with many of the prevailing ideologies and values of our societies, Christian communities must at the same time never separate themselves from their surroundings. There is a danger that we become inward-looking and spend most of our energies on the already converted. There is a strong evangelising element in this parable which cannot be ignored.

We need to remember that these are primarily parables of the Kingdom and not just of the Church, which is the imperfect sign of the work of the Kingdom going on in our world. And what these parables say applies first of all to the work of building the Kingdom in our world—it is a work which will go on inexorably, because it is based on truth, love and justice, and which slowly penetrates every corner of every society.

We can become aware to the point of depression at the amount of evil that we see around us and yet there is a gradual forward movement at all levels. But, as the previous parable reminds us, the wheat has always to co-exist with the weeds—both inside and outside the Church, both inside and outside the Kingdom.

Today’s reading concludes with a repetition of the statement that Jesus only spoke to the crowds in parables. And Matthew sees this as the fulfilment of a prophetic text from the Old Testament. It is in fact a quotation from Psalm 78:

I will open my mouth to speak in parables… (Ps 78:2)

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Commentary on 1 Pet 4:7-13 Read Friday of week 8 of Ordinary Time – First Reading »

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Commentary on Matthew 13:54-58

The Gospel reading from Matthew describes a scene where Jesus, now engaged in his public ministry, returned to visit Nazareth, the place where he grew up.   When he speaks, the people of the town are amazed:

Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power?

They could not understand because, to them, he was the son of Joseph the carpenter and of Mary, and did they not know all his relatives?  And, because they thought they knew him, they rejected him. 

In response Jesus told them that a prophet will find honour everywhere except in his own place. And as a result, Jesus did not do any ‘mighty deed’ there because of their lack of faith and trust in him.  

It is an example of the saying “familiarity breeds contempt”.  The townspeople thought they knew Jesus but, of course, they did not.  But many others had no problem in seeing the presence of God in the words and actions of Jesus.

It is a problem we ourselves can easily have when we fail to recognise the voice of God in the words and actions of people with whom we are very familiar.  Yet that is the way in which God most often communicates with us.

The passage has been chosen, of course, because of its mention of Joseph as the local carpenter, a man who worked with his hands, and so today we remember especially all those in our society who also work with their hands, people who in the past and sometimes in the present, too, have been abused and exploited.  It is Joseph who gives dignity to what they do.

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(Note: This Gospel is used in those regions where the Feast of the Epiphany is celebrated on a Sunday rather than on January 6.)

Commentary on John 3:22-30

In this passage from John’s Gospel we are given one of the last appearances of John the Baptist before his arrest. It is still part of the transition from the time of his preaching to Jesus’ taking centre stage.

Both Jesus, with his disciples, and John are in the region of Judaea, the southern province where Jerusalem is situated. John, we are told, is at a place called Aenon (a place whose location is not now known). There was plenty of water there, so it was suitable for baptism.

Apparently a dispute had arisen “between the disciples of John and a Jew about ceremonial washings.” The disciples then came to John to tell him that Jesus was also baptising, and that large crowds were going to him. Clearly, they felt somewhat upset that their own master was being upstaged.

But it did not bother John in the least:

No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven.

In other words, each person has their own calling from God, and the only thing that matters is that they respond to that calling. John reminds his disciples that he had said already he was not the Messiah, but that he had been sent to prepare the way for the Messiah’s coming. That was John’s calling and the one he had responded to.

He then gives an example which expresses his relationship with Jesus:

He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.

In this context, the “friend of the bridegroom” is the ‘best man’, or the shoshben of Jewish tradition—the one who arranges the wedding. The idea of rivalry between him and the groom would not make sense. On the contrary, the ‘best man’ is delighted to see bride and groom happy together. John concludes by saying:

He must increase, but I must decrease.

John knows perfectly well—and fully accepts—his secondary role. There was a time when he was in the limelight, but now he steps aside and allows Jesus to be the centre.

This can apply to us in our evangelising work for the Christian community. Once we see that Jesus has fully entered a person’s life, it is for us to draw back. We must never try to be possessive. Our role is to let go and let God be the one who guides people.

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Commentary on Isaiah 55:1-3; Romans 8:35.37-39; Matthew 14:13-21 Read Sunday of week 18 of Ordinary Time (Year A) »

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While there is no commentary for today’s feast, the prayer from the Book of Numbers (6:24-26) is always a beautiful blessing for us to pray:

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

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While there is no commentary for this Feast of All Saints of Ireland, this reading from Sirach seems appropriate to include to honor those Irish women and men who are so acclaimed on earth and in heaven:

Sirach 44:1-15 (NRSVue)

Hymn in Honor of Our Ancestors

Let us now sing the praises of famous men,
our ancestors in their generations.
The Lord apportioned to them great glory,
his majesty from the beginning.
There were those who ruled in their kingdoms
and made a name for themselves by their strength;
those who gave counsel because they were intelligent;
those who spoke in prophetic oracles;
those who led the people by their counsels
and by their knowledge of the people’s lore;
they were wise in their words of instruction;
those who composed musical tunes
or put verses in writing;
rich men endowed with resources,
living peacefully in their homes—
all these were honored in their generations
and were the pride of their times.
Some of them have left behind a name,
so that others declare their praise.
But of others there is no memory;
they have perished as though they had never existed;
they have become as though they had never been born,
they and their children after them.
But these also were men of compassion
whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten;
their wealth will remain with their descendants
and their inheritance with their children’s children.
Their descendants stand by the covenants;
their children also, for their sake.
Their offspring will continue forever,
and their glory will never be blotted out.
Their bodies are buried in peace,
but their name lives on generation after generation.
The assembly declares their wisdom,
and the congregation proclaims their praise.

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Commentary on Matthew 18:1-5,10

(Note: The Gospel reading today is proper to the memorial and must be used even if the ferial readings are otherwise chosen.)

Coincidentally, the Gospel reading for today’s Memorial to the Holy Guardian Angels is the same as yesterday’s for the feast of St Thérèse of Lisieux (unless her feast falls on a Sunday). The emphasis on St Thérèse’s feast was on the childlike qualities of Thérèse. In the related Gospel passage, Jesus was saying that true greatness only comes to those who in a spirit of complete docility and trust submit themselves totally to the will of their Father in heaven.

Today the focus is more on Jesus’ statement at the end of the reading where he says:

Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.

The meaning is that those considered as of least consequence—children, the poor, the marginalised—are all very special in God’s eyes and, through their angels, can be sure of God’s loving concern.

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Commentary on Mark 6:17-29

The story told in today’s Gospel comes from Mark. Not altogether coincidentally, it is sandwiched between Jesus’ sending his disciples out on a mission to do the same work he was doing, and their coming back full of enthusiasm for what they had been doing. As Jesus would tell them, the day would come when they, too, would be ‘handed over’:

Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues… (Matt 10:17)

After he had sent them out, Mark tells us that King Herod was getting reports of the wonderful things that Jesus was doing—healing the sick, liberating people from evil powers, even bringing people back to life. Herod, however, thought it must have been John the Baptist come back to life with new powers who was responsible. Some people thought that Jesus was really Elijah, who was expected to return to earth on the eve of the Messiah’s coming. Others were saying that Jesus was just another prophet. However, Herod was convinced that Jesus was John come back to life:

But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised”. (Mark 6:16)

It was clear that his killing of John the Baptist was a source of great disquiet to him.

It is then that Mark relates how this killing took place and it is the reading for us today. John the Baptist had been put in prison by Herod because John had criticised the king for marrying his brother’s wife, Herodias. This was a clear act of adultery and condemned by the Law of Moses. John had said:

It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.

Herodias was deeply resentful of John for this and wanted to get rid of him. Herod, however, respected John as a good and holy man and would do no more than keep him in prison. Although John was critical of Herod’s behaviour, the king could not resist listening to him speak.

Then, one day, Herodias saw her chance. On his birthday Herod threw a large party for his courtiers, his military officers and leading citizens of Galilee. During the meal, Herodias’ daughter came in and danced (while she is not named, by tradition she is called Salome). The king and all his guests were completely won over by her performance. The king, undoubtedly having had a few tankards of wine too much, promised to give the girl anything she wanted, even if it were half of his kingdom.

Excitedly, the girl went to her mother. “What should I ask for?” She may have been somewhat disappointed or perhaps bemused when her mother suggested: “The head of John the Baptist.” However, she went straight back to the king and said:

I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.

Herod was horrified, but he had made his oaths and could not lose face in front of his guests. An executioner was sent to decapitate John and bring the head back to the assembly. The head was then given by the executioner to the girl, who in turn handed it over to her vindictive mother. Later, John’s disciples took his body and buried it.

John is often called the Precursor, literally, the ‘one who runs in front of’. While John prepared the way for the coming of Jesus, he was really a man of the Old Testament—the last of the Old Testament prophets. Jesus would say that even the least in the Kingdom of God inaugurated by Jesus would be greater than John.

In fact, John first appears in Mark’s Gospel just at the beginning of Jesus’ public life. As Jesus began his mission to proclaim the Kingdom, John had already been arrested and had left the public scene. But John was a precursor, not only in the sense of preparing people for the coming of Jesus, but also because he was a man of complete integrity, ready to give his life for truth and justice. Hence, he was the first of those who would be ‘handed over’ (Latin, tradere) and who would be ready to die for his God. In this, he prepared the way for Jesus and those of his followers who would be handed over and give their lives. And of this we are the beneficiaries. Each one of us, too, needs to be ready to hand over our lives for the work of the Kingdom.

John the Baptist had to stand up to a king and his wife who thought they could take God’s law into their own hands. John may have died, but he won the moral victory, and for that we still recognise and honour him today.

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Commentary on Ezekiel 2:8—3:4

The reading, at first sight, describes a strange apocalyptic vision, but its meaning is clear. The vision of the chariot of Yahweh is interrupted by the vision of the scroll or book, of which we read just a part today. This vision was probably Ezekiel’s first in which, like Jeremiah and Isaiah, he is called to be God’s spokesperson.

God speaks to Ezekiel and calls him ‘son of man’.* This is a phrase in the Old Testament peculiar to Ezekiel (with the exception of two instances in the prophet Daniel). It is used 93 times altogether in Ezekiel and its purpose is to emphasise the great gap between a transcendent God and the human being. But in Daniel it takes on a messianic meaning, taken up later by Jesus, who refers to himself several times as ‘the’ (not ‘a’) “Son of Man”.

Ezekiel is first called on to listen carefully to what God has to say. In this he is not to be like the people who are rebellious and disobedient:

But you, mortal [son of man], hear what I say to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house…

The prophet is then to open his mouth and eat what is given him. A hand then reaches out a scroll for the prophet to eat. Unlike most ancient scrolls, it is written on both sides. The implication is that it is totally filled with God’s word and God’s judgement on his people.

The scroll was filled with “words of lamentation and mourning and woe”. Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel’s mission was first to communicate God’s displeasure with his people and to warn them of the sufferings they would endure as the result of their faithlessness. Later on, again like Jeremiah, he will preach a message of hope.

Following the Lord’s instructions, Ezekiel eats the scroll, whose contents he is to share with the people of Israel. When he was being called by Yahweh, the mouth of Isaiah had been touched by a seraph. In the case of Jeremiah, Yahweh had put his words into the prophet’s mouth. Here Ezekiel uses an even more graphic image of how God’s word becomes part of him.

In spite of its content, Ezekiel found the scroll:

…in my mouth…as sweet as honey.

However bitter its content, the word of God is always sweet to the taste. That is because God’s word is always spoken with love and with the well-being of the recipient in mind.

Ezekiel is then instructed to go to the people and to speak Yahweh’s words to them—the words that were on the scroll and which have been fully assimilated by the prophet.

The scene represents Ezekiel’s calling to be a prophet and to speak in God’s name. The eating of the scroll is a symbol of Ezekiel totally absorbing and assimilating into himself the word of God. It will literally become part of him.

We will find a similar image later in the Gospel in the famous chapter 6 of John where Jesus calls himself the Bread of Life:

Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. (John 6:51)

To eat that Bread is to take into oneself the very Spirit of Christ and be fully united with him in his Risen Body, the Church. The image of eating a scroll will also appear in the Book of Revelation (Rev 10:1-11).

The Word of God that comes to us through Jesus Christ is not just a set of ideas to be known or even defended. It is a vision of life that we need to absorb into our very being so that it colours and is behind everything we say and do. It results in our being able to say, as Paul did:

…it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.
(Gal 2:20)

And we also need to remember the Eucharistic element in the Liturgy of the Word. The Word of God which is proclaimed to us is meant to be ‘eaten’ and totally assimilated. There is a real presence of Christ there. He is speaks to us through it, but are we listening? This part of our liturgy is so often seen as of less importance…it is not.
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*”Son of Man” is translated as “Mortal” in the NRSVue Bible, but the interpretation is the same.